Emilio shows off his Grapes and Leaves. Emilio has been a self taught woodcarver and much to my delight did not have any awful habits to unlearn. Great job.

Welcome to Michelle, Grapes and leaves graduate.

Martha just finished another little owl. Carved again from an old piece of redwood with lots of tiny pin knots and burly grain.

We all agreed that this little guy has attitude.

A trip down Memory Lane: Debbie G carved this lovely shell from elm and gave it as a gift to a friend maybe 15 years ago. On a recent visit, there it was sitting on the table all these many years. It looked a little dry but after a quick wipe with some oil it looks as lovely as when she first carved it.

Here is a view of the back side.

Lorraine's sculpture has finally arrived to it's home in Mexico. She has had quite a journey. Mother Magdalen was scheduled to arrive in Palenque on Christmas eve in a special handmade crate. For some unknown reason, Lorraine never found out why, she was turned back at the US Mexico Border. UPS brought her back to Redwood City and just Thursday she finally made it to her destination. She went by air in wrapped and in a suitcase of one of the Sisters that was going there. What a wild ride she had.

I recently completed this piece carved from Sequoia. I experimented with a Japanese finish called Shou Sugi Ban or Yakisugi. It is a treatment where you burn the surface to produce a dark charred effect. It is most often used architecturally on interior and exterior wood to make it more weather resistant as well as insect resistant.

For many years I have had a desire to carve the wonderfully dramatic profile of an artist that I met many years ago. He was a puppeteer, dancer and all around fabulous artist. This angled chunk of wood called out to me.

The piece reminds me of a sea shell in the back. Still lots to learn to make the charring work how I would like on a carved surface.